Ceramic wall-flow filters play a central role in the reduction of particulate matter emitted from combustion engines, which are used in passenger and commercial vehicles.
During filtration, such a filter’s particle load and the corresponding pressure drop continuously increase.
A continuous or reoccurring regeneration incorporates the oxidization of the introduced reactive constituents to ensure long-term filter operation.
During such a regeneration, rearrangement events can occur inside the individual filter channels.
The video visualizes the regeneration process that causes a transformation of a continuous particle-layer into individual layer fragments, simulated with OpenLB
Dark yellow structures represent the porous filter substrate, brown structures the solid walls. Streamlines exhibit the local flow direction. The color scale indicates the local velocity magnitude.
For sufficiently high hydrodynamic surface forces, the layer fragments engage into rearrangement events and participate in the formation of a dense channel plug.
Simulation and visualization by Nicolas Hafen
[1] N. Hafen, J. E. Marquardt, A. Dittler & M. J. Krause, Simulation of Dynamic Rearrangement Events in Wall-Flow Filters Applying Lattice Boltzmann Methods. Fluids 8.7 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids8030099